It was lying on the beach near Smeaton's Pier in St Ives and was the tenth to be found dead on beaches along in the space of ten days.

"It was sad to see - I've been in Cornwall for six years waiting and hoping to see dolphins and I was finally rewarded two weeks ago with an awesome display of a pod playing and surfing the waves at Gwithian" she said.

Another resident, Tony Mason, said "I saw them at Gwithian last Sunday, swimming around jet skiers.

"To then find that one dead was so sad. Such a beautiful creature."

Between January and March last year, 61 dolphins, porpoises and whales were found dead around Cornwall's coast, the steepest rise in the death toll since 2006, according to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

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They said previous post-mortem tests showed creatures washed up on the shores had died from pollution, illnesses, natural causes and after being caught in fishing nets.

Scientists have been working with the fishing community to fit sea-going trawlers and other boats in Cornwall larger than 14m with 'pingers', which emit underwater noises to drive dolphins away from fishing nets.

Abby Crosby, from the wildlife trust, urged people to report any dead cetaceans.

"The most important piece of advice is for people to report these sightings of stranded cetaceans so we can gather more information on what is killing them" she said.

Paul Trebilcock, from the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation said "Cornish fishermen have been at the forefront of using acoustic pingers.

"All of this is hopefully contributing towards a reduction in the interaction between fishing gear and cetaceans."

A wildlife trust spokesman added: "This information is vital in helping us to conserve wildlife and cannot be learnt from studying live animals. We can learn about causes of death and threats to survival.

"Through this information researchers can learn more about the animals, including their diet, distribution, behaviour among the same - and different- species, health and diseases, reproduction and the effects of pollution."

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